A labour force of over 30,000 temporary field staff has been employed to carry out the Census. This article summarises the role of the field staff in collecting census questionnaires from households and communal establishments for the March 2011 enumeration. Building on the lessons learned from the 2001 Census, and taking account of changes in society and technology since 2001, the article provides a summary of the planned field staff structures and processes intended to deal with returned questionnaires and non‐responders.